Dancing Souls and Hidden Lies
by Liza Taylor
Summary: Lies are found at every turn. Blood is spilled for no known reason. Bumblestripe will have to figure out what is true or not to survive in the underground world and to save Briarlight's life. Dancing Shadows sequel. Rated M for adult themes, violence,ect.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to Dancing Souls, Hidden Lies, the "sequel" to Dancing Shadows. This time Bumblestripe is the main character! Now if anyone is wondering where Shadow and the others are…they'll be in it soon enough, I promise. :). Anyway, enjoy chapter 1!**

"Bumblestripe! Bumblestripe!"

Bumblestripe murmured to himself and rolled over in his sleep. The voice was still there, saying his name over and over. Finally giving in, he cracked open his amber eyes to see Briarlight standing over him.

"What is it?" asked Bumblestripe, getting to his feet.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go on a hunting patrol with me," said his sister. She blinked and winced, "Oh. I forgot you were on night patrol last night. Maybe you don't want to go?"

Bumblestripe shook his head, "No. It's fine."

"Great!" said Briarlight happily before bounding out of the warriors den.

Bumblestripe chuckled before following his sister outside. It was almost impossible to believe that a couple moons ago she was unable to walk. No one was sure how it happened but the elders and older warriors thought it was the will of StarClan…or Cinderheart had something to do with it.

Cinderheart.

Bumblestripe remembered her well. She, along with her niece Cherrykit had gone missing after they took a walk by the lake. Two days later Cidnerheart was found by the lake spouting weird things. She was only back for a night before she disappeared again and Briarlight was healed.

When he walked out of the warriors den he spotted Poppyfrost by the fresh-kill pile. The she-cat looked dead; it was like she was having trouble just putting one paw in front of the other. Bumblestripe remembered Molepaw's apprentice ceremony. Poppyfrost was not happy for her kit becoming an apprentice. Instead she had begged Molepaw to not disappear like his sister did. The kit had agreed but now that he was out of the nursery he spent less and less time with his worrying mother.

Jayfeather wasn't sure what to do with her. Bumblestripe had tried to comfort Poppyfrost on multiple occasions without luck. The she-cat refused to accept sympathy from anyone. Not even Berrynose could snap her out of it.

Briarlight, who was near the camp exit, bounded back over to Bumblestripe. "Hey, what's wrong?" She followed his line of sight to Poppyfrost and her face fell. "Oh," she put her tail on Bumblestripe's shoulder. 'Don't worry. She's just going through a rough time. She'll be okay soon."

"I hope so," mumbled Bumblestripe.

"Briarlight!" Millie bounded over to her kit from the sunning rocks. Graystripe was watching with amusement in his eyes from one of the rocks. It was obvious the two had been sharing tongues before Millie had spotted Briarlight. "Are you sure you're okay? Your legs don't feel funny or anything?"

"I'm fine Millie!" said Briarlight with a laugh. She wiggled her back paws one at a time to show her mother and she moved her tail as well. "See?"

Millie sighed in relief but she warned, "If you feel anything wrong come back here right away."

"I know," said Briarlight. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Bumblestripe will be with me."

Millie turned to Bumblestripe like she had just noticed that he had been standing next to Briarlight. "Take care of her okay? Make sure nothing bad happens to her."

"I know Millie," replied Bumblestripe. Sometimes Millie wondered if Briarlight would ever get room to breathe. Millie was always worried about her. He had thought it would go away after Briarlight's legs were miraculously healed but it seemed to get worse. Now Millie would worry about Briarlight getting into a horrible accident and her legs becoming useless again.

"Well, be careful," said Millie with a hesitant voice. "And please…don't vanish…like they did."

"We won't," promised Briarlight. She turned away from Millie and gestured with her head that Bumblestripe follow her. "Come on. We're going to catch no prey at this rate."

"Right," said Bumblestripe with a purr. He bid his mother goodbye before he followed Briarlight out of the camp and into the ThunderClan forest.

"Finally," said Briarlight. She ran a bit into the forest until she was a good distance away from the camp before she waited for Bumblestripe to catch up to her. "Millie can get so…"

"She's just worried about you," said Bumblestripe when he caught up to her. "Your legs healed for no explainable reason. She's worried that they will break with no reason too."

Briarlight sighed, "I know but still. It's suffocating sometimes to be around her. Plus somehow I don't think they will break." She seemed to be lost in thought. "I don't really remember what happened but something happened that night when Cinderheart came back. I think she gave me something to drink. I remember her scent. I wasn't fully awake but I felt something go into my throat."

Bumblestripe had heard this story before. Briarlight had told him this theory a day after it happened. He didn't know if he could believe it though. It just sounded so absurd. What could Cinderheart give Briarlight that would heal the wounds that even Jayfeather could do nothing about?

"Blossomfall! Dovewing!" yowled Briarlight suddnely.

Bumblestripe's head shot up and he saw the two she-cats were walking towards them. Based on the fresh-kill in both of their mouths, they were coming back from a hunting patrol. Blossomfall's eyes flashed with anger and she looked away from Briarlight. Bumblestripe's fur grew hot when Dovewing looked at him. He looked away quickly to avoid saying something mouse-brained in front of her.

Dovewing put down the mouse she was holding and spoke, "Hello Bumblestripe, Briarlight. You two going on a patrol?"

"Yup," said Brairlight happily. "A hunting patrol." She laughed, "Weird that I get excited for these things right? Even though it's been a couple of moons I'm still happy that I can do things like this again." She turned to Blossomfall, "We should go on a patrol sometime soon too. To catch up and such."

Blossomfall didn't say anything. Instead she gestured with her tail that she was going to go into the camp before she walked away. Bumblestripe sighed as he watched her go. She was still holding a grudge over Briarlight becoming the only kit in Millie's eyes. Bumblestripe had wanted to talk to Graystripe about it but he thought against it. This was a problem between the three she-cats.

Briarlight's face fell and her tail drooped. "She still hates me…"

"Don't worry," said Dovewing. "Blossomfall will realize soon enough that it's not your fault." She turned her blue eyes to Bumblestripe and she said, "Well, I should get going."

"Uh right," stammered Bumblestripe, not looking at her.

When Dovewing was safely in camp, Briarlight purred in amusement, "That was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen."

"Oh stop it," said Bumblestripe. "Anyway, let's go." He took off into the forest, in an attempt to divert Briarlight's mind. He wondered if Dovewing knew about his feelings for her. He hoped not. He wanted to tell her himself. Of course getting enough courage plus the fact that she might not like him back stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

Bumblestripe stopped in his tracks and looked around. He realized with a jolt that he had went too far north and now near the moonpool. "Sorry," he said, turning around to face Briarlight. "I was too lost in thought. We probably shouldn't hunt near here since it's neutral ground."

Briarlight shook her head. "That's fine," she said with a small laugh, "It's amusing to watch you squirm though." She turned her head and gestured with her tail to the small stream nearby. "The moonpool is near here right?" She turned back to her brother, excitement in her eyes, "We should go see it! The moonpool!"

Bumblestripe shook his head, "Come on Briarlight. We're not medicine cats. We shouldn't go to the moonpool."

Briarlight sighed, "Fine." She didn't stay upset for long though. "So, where should we hunt then?"

"Maybe near the abandoned two-legged nest?" suggested Bumblestripe. "A lot of fresh-kill can be found there." He thought for a moment which direction they needed to go before he got to his paws. "Let's head over there Briarlight."

When he didn't hear a confirmation from his sister he turned to check on her. "Briarlight?"

The she-cat was staring at something. Bumblestripe followed her line of sight but all he saw was a tree. Concerned now, he hurried over to Briarlight's side. Her eyes were uncannily staring at something that he couldn't see. "Briarlight? Briarlight? Are you okay?"

"Something…there…" she said in a trance-like voice. She took a step forward and then another.

"Briarlight, where are you going?" asked Bumblestripe. Fear rose up within him. What was going on here? What was wrong with her? "Briarlight! Briarlight!"

Briarlight didn't seem to be able to hear her brother. Instead she kept walking. He didn't know if he should grab her by the scruff or let her keep going wherever she was going. After thinking about it for a few seconds he decided to follow her for now. Maybe this was a message from StarClan?

Briarlight's path was steady and slow. Bumblestripe realized that they were heading for the moonpool. Why there though? "Come on Briarlight," said Bumblestripe. "Snap out of it!"

Briarlight seemed unable to hear him. She kept up her slow deliberate pace. Soon the moonpool came into view and Bumblestripe stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide.

There was a…something by the moonpool. It wasn't a cat but it was. The eyes were larger, paws were bigger, the tail longer. It looked like a stretched out gray cat. The onw thing that really set it apart was its blood red eyes. They were cold and menacing and sent chills through Bumblestripe. Noticing that Briarlight was walking towards whatever that was, Bumblestripe reached forward and grasped Briarlight's scruff and yanked her back.

_"No!" _ he thought. He could feel danger coming off the cat-thing. It probably did something to Briarlight. She was not resisting him pulling her back but she wasn't helping him either.

"Release her."

Bumblestripe wasn't sure where the voice had come from. A second later he realized it was from the thing in front of him. The creature got to its large paws and took a couple of steps towards the two ThunderClan cat. Every fiber of Bumblestripe's being was telling him to run. This…thing was dangerous.

He wanted to flee; he wanted to be anywhere but here. However there was no way he was going to leave his sister behind like this. This monster did something to her to make her so docile.

"I said release her," it spoke again.

Hearing the voice, it seemed to have a very male-like quality to it. Of course this was no time to dwell on that fact. Bumblestripe took another step back, dragging his sister along with him.

The red eyes narrowed and the jaw opened to reveal a sharp set of teeth. "Fine," came the voice again.

He didn't know how it happened. One second the creature was standing a couple fox lengths away and the next it was right in front of Bumblestripe's face. His amber eyes widen as one of the huge paws shot out and connected with Bumblestripe's head. The tom yowled in pain as he was knocked to the side. He staggered a few steps and shook his head to clear his vision.

"Briarlight!" he yowled when he saw the monster with Briarlight in tow. It was leading her with a paw to the moonpool. No way. There was no way he was going to let this thing take his sister.

Releasing a caterwaul Bumblestripe pushed off with his back legs. With claws unsheathed he landed on the monster's back and dug his claws deep into the creature's fur. Immediately it bucked and tried to get Bumblestripe off of its back.

Feeling his claws loosening, Bumblestripe reached forward and opened his jaw and bit down hard into its shoulder until he tasted blood. His amber eyes widen and he released the shoulder and fell to the ground. His body felt like it was on fire.

His vision was blurry and there was a loud ringing in his ears. What had happened? When he bit that thing…what did it do to him?

No!

H could see the thing leading Briarlight to the moonpool. Bumblestripe struggled to his paws and staggered towards the pool. His steps were slow, the pain was horrible. He felt like he was going to die; he was going to burn to death right here.

The thing looked back at him once before it pushed Briarlight into the moonpool before following suit. The moonpool wasn't that deep right? Then why couldn't he see that thing and Briarlight anymore? Why weren't they standing in the pool?

Thoughts swirled in Bumblestripe's head as he fell to the ground a couple pawsteps away from the moonpool. No. It couldn't end here. Briarlight. He had to help her. He pushed himself forward, slowly and surely. His vision was beginning to fade, his body becoming weaker and weaker. The fire was still there burning strongly. He felt like he was going to die then and there.

Feeling the edge of the moonpool under his stomach, he gave himself one final push until he was in the water. He could no longer move anymore. His body was on fire and now he couldn't lift his head to breath in air.

Suddenly he felt something grab his scruff and yank him out of the water and onto solid ground. He could see a cat standing over him. A she-cat. Was she speaking? It looked like she was yelling at him but he couldn't be sure of what she was saying. She had pretty gray eyes though. That was Bumblestripe's last thought before the darkness took him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2!**

Bumblestripe groaned and opened his eyes. He blinked slowly as he struggled to make sense of his surroundings. It seemed like he was in a cave of some sort. The sweet scent of herbs coated the air which made Bumblestriple think it was a medicine cat den.

A medicine cat den?

That didn't make any sense. He struggled to lift his head but it felt like there was a badger sitting on it. In fact it felt like a badger was sitting on his entire body.

"I wouldn't move if I were you."

Bumblestripe shifted his eyes to the sound of the voice. It was an ash-colored tom with green eyes. The tom was larger than Bumblestripe thought a cat could possibly grow to. He struggled to open his mouth to speak but before he could the tom spoke. "Now, don't push yourself. You drank the blood of the ghosts, your body is probably struggling to recover from that."

Blood of ghosts? What was that? Bumblestripe thought of the creature that had taken Briarlight away. Was that a ghost? That made no sense. It was definitely alive. Bumblestripe could remember tearing into its skin and biting down. That blood. Now that he thought about it, whatever was in that blood had done something to him. That was why he couldn't run after Briarlight.

Briarlight.

Thinking of her brought all urgency back. He needed to save her. "I have to help her," he said as he struggled to his feet.

"Whoa, hang on," said the tom. He hurried over to Bumbleflight's side and supported him on one side. "You really shouldn't be up and about."

"I have to save her, said Bumblestripe. "My sister is in trouble."

"You need to rest," protested the tom.

"Galen. I hope you aren't harassing our guest."

The gray tom dropped to the ground, his head touching the floor and Bumblestripe almost fell over from the lack of support. He turned to see a white she-cat with gray eyes. She had two toms flanking her on either side.

"I'm glad you're awake. I was surprised when you appeared in the seer pool."

"You're the one that pulled me out of the water," said Bumblestripe. He remembered those eyes. This was the she-cat that pulled him out of the water.

"How dare you show disrespect to Lady Elita!" growled one of the toms. He took a threatening step towards Bumblestripe. "Lower your head!"

"It's alright," said the she-cat, Elita. She turned her gray eyes to Bumblestripe. "You aren't from here if I'm guessing correctly. You come from the world beyond the pool."

"The world beyond the pool?" asked Bumblestripe.

"Lift your head Galen and help him outside," ordered the she-cat. She stepped to the side and the toms moved so they could still flank her.

"Of course Lady Elita," said the gray tom. He got up from the ground and resumed his position. With his support, he helped Bumbleflight walk to the entrance of the cave.

"Where…where am I?" asked Bumblestripe in shock.

This was not the forest. The trees around were too tall and too thick. The branches hung over what looked to be a camp of some sort. Huge rock walls surrounded the "camp" on all sides. Cats were streaming in and out of the caves on the rock walls and some were sunning themselves on the grassy forest floor. Well, Bumblestripe thought they could be called cats. They were all much larger than normal cats.

"You are in the center of the Gandal Tribe's territory," spoke Elita from behind Bumblestripe. "You came here through a body of water from your world." The she-cat purred under her breath. "I'm quite happy to see that the rumors are true. There is another world beyond this one." She took a step towards Bumbleflight and said, "And you are the proof of that."

"What are you talking about?" whispered Bumblestripe. "Other world?" How could that even be possible? How could he end up in another world? He had just fallen into the moonpool. Medicine cats went there all the time. Why didn't this happen to any of them?

"You are very confused," said Elita. "That is understandable. I will explain it to you." The she-cat walked to the center of the cave and sat down on a moss bed. "Help him over here Galen and then go get our guest something to eat." She looked over at the two toms that had been flanking her the whole time. "Leave us alone for now."

The toms bowed low to Elita before they left the cave. Galen helped Bumblestripe sit down on a moss bed near Elita before he stepped back. "Please don't talk to him long Lady Elita. He needs his rest."

"I understand," said Elita. "Now go get him some fresh-kill please?"

"Of course."

Bumblestripe watched Galen go before he focused his attention to this Elita. Based on the way the cats were treating her he guessed she was the leader of this…Gandal Tribe. He wondered if they were like the Tribe of Rushing Water. It didn't seem like it.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "The blood of the ghosts is powerful and poisonous. I'm surprised you survived long enough to come through the pool and get treatment in time."

"I'm fine," said Bumblestripe. It was true. He didn't feel like there was a badger sitting on him anymore. He just felt a bit tired but that was it.

Elita blinked slowly and she purred again. "Well you look it so I guess I don't have to worry." She sat up straight and her whole body took a serious tone to it. "Anyway, I would like to ask why you took a bite out of one of the ghosts."

Bumblestripe hesitated. He didn't know if he could trust this she-cat or not. However he had no idea where he was or how he got here. The cats here were odd plus there was that ghost thing that took Briarlight. Did he really have any choice but to trust Elita? She did save his life if what she said was true.

So Bumblestripe gave Elita a quick account of what happened. How he was walking through the forest with Briarlight when she started acting strangely. He talked about how he had followed her to the moonpool where she had been taken by a weird monster thing, the ghost and how he had run after her in an attempt to save her.

"So the ghosts really don't exist in the other world," murmured Elita. She sighed and looked up. "I am sorry for your sister. I shall send some scouts out to see if they can track down where the ghost went." She shook her head. "Although I hate to say it but it would be best to give up on your sister. The ghosts are not the kind of creature to let prey go once they have their paws on it."

Bumblestripe's fur bristled. "She's my sister!" he yowled angrily. "She suffered enough already." He had to save her. She had just gotten use of her back legs recently. She had to live. She had to enjoy the life she was deprived of for a couple of moons.

Wait. Elita had said prey. "She's not dead…right?"

Elita shook her head. "I don't know. The ghosts are a strange group. We barely know of their customs."

"Then there is a chance she's alive!" Bumblestripe lowered his head to Elita. He didn't want to ask for help but he had no other choice in the matter. He knew nothing about the world here. He needed Elita's help. "Please. Help me find my sister. I'll do anything." He looked up and saw a flicker of emotion in Elita's eyes but it was gone as fast as it came.

"I will try," she said, "But I make no promises." Her ears flicked and she got to her paws just as Galen walked into the den with a huge rabbit in his jaws. Bumbleflight couldn't stop staring at it. That could feed three to four cats in ThunderClan alone. "Galen. I put-what's your name?-Bumbleflight in your charge." She turned to Bumbleflight, "Galen here will take good care of you. I have matters I must attend to. If you need anything you can ask for it."

With that she swept out of the cave and was gone. Galen on the other paw, padded over to Bumblefstripe and dropped the rabbit in front of him before sitting down. "I think introductions are in order. I am Galen and I am the healer of the Gandal Tribe. It's my job to make sure all injuries are healing smoothly and illnesses taken care of."

So he was a medicine cat. Bumblestripe had guessed right. Even if it wasn't the same thing as a medicine cat it was still nice to have something familiar in this weird world. "I'm Bumblestripe. I'm a warrior of ThunderClan. Ummm, can you tell me more about…this place?"

"Of course," said Galen. "This is the Gandal Tribe. We are a group of special cats that live together. This is the center of the tribe, the main camp. Our territory stretches far and wide in all directions." Galen looked like he wanted to say more but he didn't. Instead he jumped to a different topic. "Lady Elita is the chosen one of the Gandal Tribe."

"The chosen one? Is that the same as the leader?"

Galen shook his head. "No. A different cat is the leader. She is…" He hesitated again and shook his head. "Sorry. I cannot disclose the information to outsiders."

"That's fine," said Bumblestripe. Although he didn't know much he knew something now. "Umm, can you tell me anything about the ghosts?"

Galen shook his head. "I don't know much about them," he pushed the rabbit towards Bumblestripe. "You should eat to help regain your strength. Lady Elita would be upset if you collapsed on us again."

Bumblestripe obeyed. He took a bite out of the rabbit and was surprised by how it tasted. It was off. It wasn't the taste he was used to at all. Did this really mean he was in a different world? "Why did she help me?"

"That's just the way Lady Elita is. She is known for her kindness," Like before it seemed like Galen wanted to say more but he was stopping himself from doing so. "Anyway, after you eat you should get a bit of rest and then I will show you around the tribe."

"Is that wise? I mean, I mean, I'm an outsider."

Galen chuckled, "Oh don't worry. You wouldn't stand a chance against one of us." Before Bumblestripe could ask what that meant, Galen got to his paws and walked over to the piles of herbs. "Anyway. Hurry up and eat and then get some rest."

"Uh, alright," said Bumblefstripe before he looked down at the rabbit and began to eat again.


	3. Chapter 3

**So here is chapter 3! Briarlight will also have her point of view in this one.**

Briarlight slowly blinked. Her head felt groggy, it was like she was half-asleep. What happened? She remembered walking through the forest with Bumblestripe and then she heard some kind of voice, a singing voice. That was it. That was all she could remember. What happened after that? What happened after she heard that voice?

She slowly to her paws and almost fell over from a wave of nausea that swept over her. She stood still for a few seconds and took a couple of deep breaths to try to focus herself. Once she felt like she could move without causing herself to throw up she began looking around. It seemed like she was in a cave of some sort. It wasn't large, only two fox lengths, and the ceiling was maybe a tail length above her head. Glowing moss covered the walls letting off a weak light for Briarlight to see by.

"Where am I?" she whispered, her voice hoarse. She couldn't see a way out at all. How did she get down here? Wait. Where was Bumblestripe? Was he okay? She was frustrated that she couldn't remember anything that happened after she had heard that voice. She noticed something in the corner of the room and she walked over to it. It was a small pool of crystal clear water. Next to it was a small pile of fresh-kill.

"What does this mean?" Briarlight asked herself. If there was food for her here did that mean she was put here on purpose? Why?

"This is your home for now."

Briarlight stiffened and whirled around to see where the voice was coming from. Her eyes widen. What was that thing? It looked like a stretched out gray cat. The eyes were blood red and seemed to stare into Briarlight's soul. How did that thing get in here? There didn't seem to be any entrances or exits and this creature was bigger than any cat Briarlight had seen.

"What are you talking about?" whispered Briarlight. Her instincts were telling her that this thing was dangerous. "What do you mean this is my home? Where am I? Where is my brother!"

The creature shook its head before looking at her with those cruel blood red eyes. "The tom that was with you is probably dead."

Briarlight's eyes widen and she unsheathed her claws. "Murderer!" she yowled as she launched herself at the creature.

She wasn't sure how it happened. One second the creature was in front of her, the next he was next to her. He smacked Briarlight with a paw and she slammed into the ground, the breath knocked out of her.

"The world here is different than what you are used to," said the creature. "The rules you played by before are gone, replaced by the rules of this world. It would be best for you to be quiet and learn about it instead of fighting back."

"What are you talking about?" snapped Birarlight as soon as she had enough breath within her. She slowly got to her paws and winced. It felt like she had bruised something when she hit the groud.

The creature made a sound and Briarlight thought it must be the creature laughing. "You don't know anything do you? And here I thought you would know something. Of course all the beings from that world don't know about this one. My mistake."

Now that it was talking, Briarlight felt like it was a male voice. Could it be a tom?

"You are in a different world than your own," he said. "You are in a place where cats like you do not belong." He turned his head to look at the rock wall. He nodded and turned to Briarlight. "Well I must be going now. Keep yourself comfortable here."

"Where are you going!" yowled Briarlight as he walked over to the rock wall. "And what are you?"

He chuckled and looked back at Briarlight. "My name is Alastor. And I am a ghost." With that he stepped into the wall and was gone.

Briarlight stared at the spot where he had disappeared in shock for a few seconds before she ran over to the wall. She touched it with a paw but it was hard stone. How? That Alastor had stepped into the wall and went somewhere. If she had not seen it with her own eyes she would not have believed it.

"What is going on here?" she whispered to herself as she collapsed onto the ground. She was in another world? How could she believe something so crazy? There was no way it could be true! _"Something had went through the wall right in front of you,"_ she reminded herself, _"That cannot happen. It's impossible."_

Then what he said had to be true. She was in another world. Oh StarClan. He had said Bumblestripe was most likely dead. "Bumblestripe," she whispered, sorrow welling up within her. It could have been a lie, she knew that, but why would he lie to her about that? There was nothing to gain if she knew. "I'm sorry," she whispered, not really knowing why she was apologizing, "I'm sorry Bumblestripe."

With that she got to her paws. She would sit vigil for her brother. She would sit as long as she had to. For her brother's sake.

Linelinelineline

Bumblestripe ducked under a low branch before he stopped on the edge of a clearing. It had been a couple of days since he had arrived in this world and Galen had said that Bumblestripe was finally well enough to walk around. So here he was, in the forest around the Gandal Tribe's camp. Galen was close behind him.

"How do you like the forest?" asked Galen.

Bumblestripe looked up at the impossibly tall trees. He had to crane his neck back to even attempt to see the tops. "It's different," he said carefully. He didn't want to offend Galen in any way. "The trees back home are shorter than these. The plant life here is much different and the sounds as well…" He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of creatures half of the sounds he heard came from.

"Well that's true," said Galen with a chuckle. "I would have been worried if you didn't find it odd." He stepped into the clearing before gesturing with his tail to the sky. "How about that? Does the sky look the same where you come from?"

Bumblestripe stepped out into the clearing and looked up. It was a clear blue sky. The same as it was back home. "It looks the same," he said, in surprise. He never thought of looking up back at the camp and the trees were too thick out here to see the sky. In a way it was comforting. Even if everything around him was different the sky was the same.

"Well that's good to know," said Galen. He looked up at the sky. "How is your world different than this?" He gestured to the grass below their paws. "Is this grass different than what is found in your world? How are the trees different? The sounds, what kind of sounds are found where you are from?"

Bumblestripe blinked as he was bombarded with questions. He never pegged Galen for the talkative type but that was what he was doing. As if he realized what he was doing, Galen stopped and lowered his head, "I'm sorry for hitting you with so many questions. I'm curious to where you come from."

"It's alright," said Bumblestripe. Galen seemed to be one of the few cats in the tribe that didn't look at him with distain. Elita was the other but Bumblestripe had not seen her since their first meeting. Galen said she was busy doing her duties. He was about to answer when a loud roar ripped through the air. "What was that?" asked Bumblestripe, his head turned in the direction. He turned to Galen for an answer.

The tom was tense and he was staring at the direction of the sound with concern clear on his face. "Come on Bumblestripe," he said after a few seconds. "It would be best for us to go back now."

The firm tone told Bumblestripe there was no room for negotiation. So instead, he just nodded and followed Galen the way back they had come. He glanced back a few times and scented the air but he had no clues what whatever made that sound was.

"Galen? Can you tell me what made that sound?" asked Bumblestripe as they hurried through the forest.

Galen stiffened at the question and Bumblestripe silently hit himself for pushing the tom. It surprised him a lot when Galen answered, "It's probably one of the Enki. We need to hurry and get you back."

An Enki? That just pushed more questions into Bumblestripe's head. What was an Enki? Why did Bumblestripe need to go back because of it? Galen didn't seem to be in the mood to answer any more questions though. The ash furred tom didn't relax until they had made it inside the camp.

Coming back here after being outside for a while was slightly jarring for Bumblestripe. He was surrounded on all sides by rock instead of trees. He could feel the stares of the cats of the Gandal Tribe on him. It was like this whenever Galen took him around the camp for some reason or another. He expected it though. He was an outsider. However for some reason Bumblestripe thought that wasn't the only reason they were staring. There was something else, a different reason for the staring.

Galen sighed, "Well that was a close call. Wouldn't want an Enki to see you until after Lady Elita explains what is going on."

"What's an Enki?" asked Bumblestripe. Galen seemed calmer now and he might answer the question.

Galen shook his head, "It's best if you don't know for now." He perked up and said in a much brighter voice, "Anyway, shall we go eat some fresh-kill? You're probably hungry from your walk through the forest."

"Uh sure," said Bumblestripe before following Galen to the fresh-kill pile. It seemed to work the same way ThunderClan did it. Cats brought fresh-kill and put it on a pile and then cats took from it to eat.

Galen chose a large rabbit for himself and stepped to the side so Bumblestripe could take whatever he wanted. After a few seconds of searching, Bumblestripe picked up the smallest mouse he could find from the pile. The mouse was small by prey standards here but it was still large enough for Bumblestripe to eat and be full afterwards.

The two cats settled near the pile and began eating the fresh-kill. It was times like this that Bumblestripe felt like he was back in the clans again. Cats around him were going about, doing their daily business.

"Galen," spoke a brown she-cat with speckles of white on her fur. Her stomach was huge and hung low to the ground. It was obvious that she was with kits.

"Hello Maia," said Galen.

Maia settled on the ground in front of the tom. "The kits have been kicking hard. It's almost time right?"

Galen got to his paws, the rabbit forgotten. He gently pressed his paws against Maia's stomach and seemed to be looking for something.

"You have kits born where you come from too right?" the she-cat asked Bumblestripe. Bumblestrip was dumbstruck for a moment. This was the first time he had been spoken to by cats other than Galen. Realizing that she was waiting for an answer he quickly said, "Yes."

Maia chuckled, "Well good then." She turned to Galen who was done. "Well?"

Galen nodded, "Yes. The time will be soon."

Maia sighed and then got to her paws. "Well I guess freedom is almost over for me," she said with a light joking tone in her voice. She turned to Bumblestripe. "Well, it's nice to meet you." She laughed, "You're much different than what the rumors going around suggests. Honestly, cats think you are a mutant Enki eater or something."

"Maia," said Galen with a slight warning tone in his voice.

Maia rolled her eyes, "Anyway. I'm usually in that cave over there," she gestured with her tail to a cave on the bottom of one of the rock walls. "Can't climb to the higher ones like I used to with kits and all. Come by anytime. I need someone to talk to and you aren't doing anything usually."

"Go rest Maia," said Galen with a sigh, "You need to be ready to have kits at any time."

"Right right," said Maia with another roll of her eyes. "You better come by later," she said to Bumblestripe before walking towards the cave she had pointed out.

"Sorry about Maia," said Galen. "She's quite a chatterbox."

"That's fine," said Bumblestripe. In fact he was glad she was a chatterbox. He was glad that someone had talked to him. "Ummm, would it be okay for me to go talk to her later?"

"It's fine," said Galen. "You can walk around camp by yourself. Everyone has been instructed to not lay a paw on you."

Bumblestripe nodded to show that he understood. He knew he would probably only visit Maia. He still didn't trust anyone else here to not claw his tail off.

"Anyway, eat up," said Galen, "Lady Elita would be worried if you're not eating well."

"Alright," said Bumblestripe, taking another bite out of the mouse. He wondered if Briarlight was okay, wherever she was. He hoped Elita would be able to get him information about her whereabouts. Then he would figure out a way to save her. No matter how long he stayed here he would never forget his true purpose. To save his sister.


End file.
